As someone who has suffered from a lot of different eating disorders – anorexia, bulimia, binge eating – I wanted to use my experience to help clear up a few myths and misconceptions that tend to surround disordered eating.

This blog post contains descriptions of eating disorders and could be potentially triggering, especially to anyone in recovery. If you feel that you could be affected negatively by this, please stop reading here.

It was August of last year, and on cue, I came down with a Summer cold. Up to this point, I was prone to two colds a year, one in the Winter and one in the Summer, so this was no big deal. If anything, this cold was a lot easier on me than any I’ve had in the past – stuffy nose, bit of a fever, but the usual cough was absent. A little bed rest and plenty of water and paracetamol and I was more or less well again within a week.

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about my experience with eating disorders, and briefly mentioned Body Dysmorphic Disorder (also known as BDD or simply dysmorphia). Through my own experience with it, dysmorphia is like walking through a very long corridor of funhouse mirrors, and every mirror shows you something different, depending on how your dysmorphia is affecting you that day. It might be your teeth, or your nose, or your thighs, or even something that’s never crossed your mind before. That’s too large, that’s too small, that needs covered up – the list of grievances seems endless.

When I first started thinking about creating a blog, I wasn’t sure as to what theme I would have. I then thought that while this blog is personal to me and supposed to be something to be enjoyed (and hey, if it leads somewhere bigger, that’s a bonus), it’s also out there on the internet for anyone to read. So in this regard, I thought it would be a good platform to write about my own experiences. It’s a good exercise for myself, and if there’s a possibility that reading my blog could help someone else, then all the better.

(This post will be discussing my experiences with eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, and BDD. If you are in any way triggered by this, please stop reading here.)

I’ve always been a firm believer of the philosophy “You either learn to love it, or you do something about it”. Okay, perhaps it’s not exactly a philosophy, but they’re some very wise words to live by.

Welcome!

My name is Tanja, I’m a 25 year old textiles student, costume maker and vintage style enthusiast. This blog will have a variety of mental health posts, including my own personal experiences with anxiety, Body Dysmorphic Disorder and eating disorders, as well as my journey through adult braces and jaw surgery.